Brandon, Susan and Sarah: Life has been hectic!!!

Sorry I have not posted a blog almost this whole month, but life has been really crazy for us lately. There are several pics below.... they have been accumulating since I have not posted. Just an FYI.... this is going to be LONG blog!!
At the beginning of the month, we went to Atlanta to visit Brandon's grandparents. They are not really able to travel here and brandon really wanted them to meet Sarah! The crazy thing was that we DROVE!!! We loaded up Sarah, her room (LOL), and the dogs and headed on our way. When we left, Colorado was in a blizzard - but we didn't know it would last through most of Kansas too!!! By the time we got to Salina, KS (and start heading south to OK) we were already about 5 hours bhind schedule due to the severity of the blizzard. Going through OK was fine, but as soon as we crossed the border into AK, we were in severe thunderstorm and rain. Not too far into AK, we pulled off at an exit because the rain was so bad... that and because brandon needed to take a little nap. When we got back on the highway a couple hours later, we were in traffic and saw debris all over. We turned off the sirius music and turned on the local radio channel. We heard that a tornado had come through that area 20 mins (I repeat, 20 mins) after we pulled off the road. We were pretty much in tornados until we got to his grandparents house. There was one in front of us, one behind us and we even got IN one at one point. We were in AL and the weather started to get bad again (it was around 4am and pitch black out). brandon turned on the local channel and heard that the tornado was RIGHT where we were. Since it was dark we didn't know what was going on or where the storm was even coming from. So, we pulled off the highway and parked under a bridge with some other cars. We were there about 20 mins or so and then the radio said that it jumped, thats right, jumped over the little town we were in. talk about God watching down on us!!!! brandon jumped back on the highway and hauled ass out of the area... he was literally going about 90 mph for a little while to get ahead of it. There were a couple other cars going that fast too. We didn't stop again until we got to his grandparents house because the tornado was on our tail the entire time, as well as new ones forming. Our 24 hour drive turned into a 36 hour drive!!! We were soooooooo exhausted when we got there. On a good note, the dogs and Sarah did absolutely wonderful. A lot better than we thought they were going to, especially Sarah. She slept practically the entire time. Our drive home was great weather the entire time... thank goodness!!!
We were gone for a little over 2 weeks (including drive time).We had a wonderful visit and of course they were in love with Sarah. Nanas would get Sarah to sleep every time with just her shoulder. She loved her shoulder :) his grandpa kept telling us that we can leave, but Sarah has to stay. And we kept saying that we were taking Nanas shoulder with us when we left. While we in that part of the country, we all drove up to TN for a couple days to see brandon's uncle and his family. We drove in one car, and they couldn't believe how well Sarah did!! So, Brandon's uncle (Kevin) has a little girl named Ella that was born Dec 21, 2006.... so he kept teasing his grandparents that they have a granddaughter and great granddaughter within a year apart. Like I said, it was a great visit and we were sad to leave. I just talked to Norma the other day and she said that misses Sarah like crazy. you get used to having this little girl around :)
Other than our trip, we have just been VERY VERY busy trying to find a job (both of us) and going on a couple interviews. Oh yeah, and brandon took a part time job at Wal Mart working overnight on the weekends. he has another interview tomorrow with a flooring company as an estimator. Sarah also has her 2 week well check tomorrow (even though she will be 11 weeks tomorrow). I feel so awful for her because she will need to get 4-5 shots. I AM excited however to see where she ranks in her weight and height. She seems to have grown really long, but she is still pretty skinny. She has had some milestone changes this month which we love!! She smiles ALL THE TIME now. She can go from a smile right into crying or visa versa. She also coos a lot. She will lay in her pack n play for a while sometimes just talking away. Sometimes she tries to laugh, but she sucks in so she makes a funny 'gasping' sound. She has us cracking up a lot. It so amazing to be able to see her grow. She also discovered her hands very much so. She sucks on the all the time and plays with them a lot. She is grabbing at a lot of things now... like my hair and necklace. And she is not easy to loosen the grip. She is still usually hungry about every 3 hours, but we had a miracle occur this week..... she slept for 7 hours straight. We couldn't believe it! We were at our neighbor's house when she fell asleep so we didn't get to sleep the entire time she was, but it was still impressive.
Another big thing (for me anyway) was that I got to talk to my brother for a long time this past weekend. It is so wonderful everytime I get to hear from him. He is doing well out there and is actually done with the army altogether in June 2009. He is most likely not going to come home for leave so he can bank the days and come home early next year when he is done. so, sarah and I (and maybe brandon) will be heading out to WA sometime this summer just for a couple days so they can FINALLY meet. I have sent him lots of pics of her in the packages I send him. I love you very much Joe and hope you remain safe!! We all love you!!
Well, I need to head off to bed since Sarah goes to the dr early tomorrow morning. I will post another blog sometime this weekend with the stats of the dr's appt. In the meantime, enjoy the pics!!

Love,
Sue, Brandon, and Sarah